right now on msnbc shots ring out on the gaza border. will it jeopardize the fragile ceasefire now in its second day? wow. look at that. here at home the super bowl of shopping events. the black try day frenzy in full swing as shoppers turn out in droves to cash in on all the holiday deals. but is it all over for elmo? we'll take a look at how the real-life scandal surrounding the voice of elmo could impact "sesame street's" selling power this season. it is black friday.

welcome to this special edition of "msnbc live." developing now the ceasefire between israel and hamas may have been broken. palestinian medical services say a man was killed by israeli forces on the gaza side of the border. israel's army has not yet been able to verify the death but this all comes after a day and a half of calm in the region following those eight days of rocket and missile attacks that left nearly 170 dead. we have reporters on both sides of the conflict. we begin with ayman mohyeldin in gaza. to the details of this possible break in the ceasefire. what do you know on that? >> reporter: good morning, alex. palestinian medical services have identified the body of a 23-year-old they say was killed by israeli gunshots as he and about 3,300 other people approach the gaza/israel border. now generally speaking israel and gaza border is mostly farmland. there is an area that is about 300 meters or so that the

israeli have declared a no-go zone. that has been used to attack israeli border posts and attempts to kidnap israeli soldiers. for the most part they are aware that is a no-go zone. following the truce signed on wednesday, it was unclear whether that no-go zone was still in effect and whether it was imposed or not. so this morning a group of palestinian farmers and others, because a as we mentioned that area is farmland, tried to approach the fence. there was a protest there. and that's when the shots happened. now palestinian medical sources say -- i should say palestinian factions say this is a violation of the ceasefire. they are not going to retaliate at this time but they will he can press a complaint with cairo, the government that sponsored this truce and they will record their complaint that a violation has happened. alex? >> has this done anything to quell all the celebrations that were going on there in gaza? >> reporter: well, there were

celebrations all throughout the day on thursday. yesterday hamas declared it a victory. the palestinian factions held military parade. there weren't many rallies expected today though it is friday prayers here. a lot of mosques throughout the territory did celebrate the victory that occurred as a result of the eight days of fighting. but right now there are no celebrations taking place or rallies though the mood here is relatively calm. people are going about their business as usual despite this violation. alex? >> all right, ayman, many thanks from that. to gaza to israel and tel aviv. special correspondent martin fletcher is joining us. martin, with a good friday to you. let's talk about what israeli forces have done having announced they've made several arrests in wednesday's bus bombing there in tel aviv. what's the latest you're hearing on that? >> reporter: yeah, alex, there was a great deal of concern when the bomb went off ruining 11 people. the fear was that this could have been the beginning of a new round of terrorist attacks but that doesn't seem to be the case. the israelis announcing the

arrest of one person, an israeli arab, from the town of taiba. they say he put the bomb on the bus and then got off the bus and then, being part of a unit, he call his commander and said the bomb is on the bus. this is all information israelis released after init ter gating him. he then called his commander and said the bomb is on the bus. the commander using his cell phone dialed a number and the bomb went off. that may be one reason why so few were hurt, it was done by remote control so you couldn't have known how many people were on the bus at the moment. the worrying thing now for israel is the israelis came from a small town that's not a distant place. it's right in the center of israel. it's an israeli -- a small israeli town, very accepted. people walk around shopping there, arabs from that town come to israel freely. the concern, of course, he was part of a group and the question is whether there may be more attempts of the same kind, alex. >> martin fletcher in tel aviv.

many thanks for that. joining me in studio for a global perspective is former united states senator george mitchell who served as the u.s. special envoy for middle east peace from 2009 to 2011. sir, welcome. we are awfully glad to have you here. let's talk about egyptian president mohammed morsi who played the critical role. he is facing protests in his own country because he's trying to expand and have further reaching powers. do you see this as a power grab? that he's riding on something of a success? >> churchill once said democracy is the worst possible form of government except for anything else that's been tried by human beings. as senate majority leader, faced with constant delay, frustration, filibustering, i often thought, boy, i would like to be king for a day and cut through all of this. democracy is tough. it's messy and morsi is finding that out. i don't think that what he did was right, and i don't think it

will hold. >> with regard to what he's doing now by ordering some retrials in terms of hosni mubarak and his cabinet, what might that do to the situation there? do you worry that would have inflaming factions there? >> i think it clearly will trigger protests. had already has for many leading officials. not so much with respect to that one action but by the truly sweeping powers he claims to himself and even if he is sincere in saying it's only for a little while, democracy a little while is too much. >> it's hard to give those powers up once you've achieved them certainly. his role in helping obtain this cea ceasefire, sir, do you think he will be a stabilizing force in the region? do you think he is someone the united states can count on? >> well, obviously it will vary from issue to issue and from time to time. the two actions juxtaposed next to each other is very positive kicks on the peace process and this latest action demonstrates that you can't be sure that

someone is going to be your friend every time on every issue. he's elected in a free and democratic election. we ought to be dealing with him. we are. the president appears to have established a good relationship with him and, remember, continuation of the peace agreement with israel, while very much in israel's strategic interest, is also important to egypt. they have a very difficult time in economic terms, and let's not forget that the revolution there was indigenous, it was local and it was, in large part, over domestic issues, jobs, education, health care, what concerns people everywhere. he needs a stable situation there. he needs to concentrate on economic growth, providing jobs. he obviously has to recognize and acknowledge public opinion, which is an important factor there as here. but, for now, i think it's a positive step. what he's done with respect to the ceasefire. >> you saw a reporter in gaza who talked about the many celebrations throughout the day

on thursday there. has hamas emerged stronger from this last eight days of the conflict? there are those who suggest that's the case? >> clearly, yes. and a dangerous signal is being sent throughout the entire region. palestinians are split. the palestinian authority, which controls the executive branch of government as a result of their election several years ago, is opposed to violence. they took the position we favor, nonviolent negotiations. that hasn't gotten anywhere. hamas differs with the palestinian authority in that they reserve the right to and do use violence. and the message may be going out across the region that it's really violence that pays off. you've seen it in some of the statements some islamist leaders in the last couple of days. i think it's important that we deal with the united states and israel deal with the palestinian authority. hopefully in a way that permits

a unified palestine and the creation of a two-state solution is in everyone's interest. >> george mitchell, sir, thank you for weighing in. appreciate it. >> thank you. for more now let me bring in the chief spokesman for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it's nice to see you again. may i talk about the specifics and what's been going on the last 24 hours? how does your government respond to the reports of a palestinian man killed by israeli forces on the gaza border? >> reports say there was a riot on the border fence and people tried to push through. we're looking into what happened, but on the whole, the pi picture is good. the ceasefire seems to be holding. and from our point of view, that's what we wanted. we wanted to establish peace and quiet for our people in southern israel who have been on the receiving end of these rockets for much too long and they're now coming out of the bomb shelters in the last few days, enjoying seeing the sun light and having a normal life. that's what this was all about

for us. >> mark, the next phase of the ceasefire calls for opening the border crossings, letting people through, fwoodz through and the like. how and when will that be implemented? >> well, we're going to have these discussions with egypt. these are the israeli/egyptian discussions on looking at restrictions. you have to understand why we imposed restrictions in the first place. there's cause and effect. we imposed the restrictions because there was hostile fire from gaza into israel. they were shooting rockets at our people. they were shooting at our farmers with small arms fire. you couldn't have normal relations when they were so hostile. now if if we're going to have a period of quiet as the understandings reach through the egyptian state, if there's going to be quiet, then israel is in a position to move forward and be more flexible on some issues. >> the ceasefire negotiations with president morsi, does it give you an indication of what his presidency is going to mean for israel?

>> you know, israel and egypt fought wars in the past. we fought bloody wars and people on both sides lost their lives in 1948 and 1956 and 1967 and again in 1973. in the late 1970s we signed a peace treaty with israel that has brought peace to the border, and i think that's in the interests of both countries to keep that peace treaty. that's in the israeli interests and the egyptian interests. we have hamas that shares a common border with egypt and israel, and we think both sides have an interest to make sure that mass and the other extremists in gaza don't stir up trouble. don't cause friction. don't create violence. and i think we and the egyptians work together on keeping the peace and on trying to make sure the terrorists don't dictate the agenda. >> mark, suggestions that this past eight, nine days was a practice run, if you will, for any faw tour confrontation,

testing, identifying hamas' capabilities, is that true enough? and if so, what did you learn? >> well, first of all, we know the rockets that were fired at tel aviv and jerusalem weren't made in the gaza strip. m metaphorically speaking they had made in iran printed on them very clearly. and this is also a threat for the future. hamas has come out of the crisis gre greatly weakened. we've destroyed most of their arsenal. they fired at us and there's little left. we know the eye riranians will expeditiously to rearm hamas and it's incumbent on 0 all of us, everyone who wants to see peace and hostility, we don't want these extremists to get their hands on iranian weapons. the you 125i9s and israel have been talking about preventing that from happening and the egyptians have a part to play here, too. if we all play a role in preventing hamas from being rearmed by iran, we're in for a more stable and quiet period ahead. >> we can all hope.

mark regev, many thanks for your time. i will speak with the former adviser for the palestine liberation organization. coming up, why florida's former governor is looking more likely as a contend er for 2016. first, we'll take you lav to the biggest mall in america for a check on how the busiest shopping day is going. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. medicare open enrollment.

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black friday is off to its earliest start yet with many stores opening last night and scores of shoppers lined up after thanksgiving dinner to look to take advantage of the super sales. jay gray is no exception. he's at the mall of america in bloomington, minnesota. jay, how are the crowds looking this morning? >> reporter: good morning, alex.

doing a little watch shopping. and the crowds have been huge. this is one of those places the mall of america that did actually start early. the first store opened at 8:00 last night. the entire mall at midnight and they have been going gangbusters ever since. we see shoppers come in waves. we have the overnight group that came through and now that's beginning to give way to those who took a nap or got rest and are coming to do their early morning shopping. they're not only shopping, they're buying, alex. we're seeing a lot of people with a lot of bags, and so that's good news for retailers. they put all their eggs in one basket, it if you will, for this day and leading into the christmas holiday. so it's been good so far. it's been crowded. we expect it to continue to be that way. this is the largest mall in ameri america, 4 million square feet. a lot to choose from. what can i bring you back when we're done? >> i don't know. i'll send you an e-mail. i would really appreciate it. we will check in with you later. let's go to politics now.

it seems like we just got through one election and there's already speculation about the next. just check out today's headline in "the new york times." jeb bush in 2016? it's not too early for chatter. the former florida governor and son and brother of two presidents is said to be weighing finances before deciding whether or not he will make a run for himself. i want to bring in a former strategist. also the chief political correspondent and a democratic strategist. hello, guys. good to have you all. what's the deal with you, chip? too much tryptophan? couldn't get to the studio? >> too much turkey. they would have had to wheel me. they decided the phone is better. >> "the new york times" is calling jeb bush the man for the moment. he's a conservative. but he's writing a book on immigrati immigration. his wife was born in mexico. speaks spanish. he does speak spanish. would jeb bush largely solve the

gop's problems with hispanics? >> well, i think he's part of the solving of the puzzle. i think really this is obviously too he will. what's more interesting is the stories are being written but then you had his son on tv in flo florida and said he hoped he would run. obviously the bush machine is probably one of the better folks that run for president know all these little interviews early matter and getting that speculation started early, he could be a great candidate for a lot of reasons. >> speaking of george p., they have said let's get him into politics down the road. the other side of that, senator marco rubio. last weekend he took that trip to iowa where he spoke for terry branstad. his remarks sounded like a campaign speech. what's the deal with him? >> i think senator rubio is off and running.

it's early to do that but i think what's interesting about that is their people tried to push back, oh, well, we tried to schedule this many weeks ago. it doesn't matter. you are the first person in iowa. you are now at the top of the who is running ticket and everything you say will be scrutinized. you have to take the good with the bad. >> steve, what do you think the chances are we see the candidates from 2012 trying their hands again? rick santorum, rick perry, both said to be thinking about it according to politico. weigh in on that. >> i think rick santorum will almost certainly run. he had a pretty good showing last time. he did well in the early states. he acquitted himself well in the debates. he's particularly popular with social conservatives but also working class republicans. i think santorum is definitely a likely candidate. rick perry obviously flamed out, didn't do so well. not so sure there's a second try for rick perry. >> richard, i want to talk about chris christie with you.

there was that quinnipiac poll, 89% in it said his response was excellent or good. the internal poll, they're even better than 89%. is he the future of the gop? >> he has to get through his re-election first. we've seen this before to a certain extent. props to governor christie for doing what he did and, frankly, for rising above poll 0 particulars and saying that the president did a good job. but we saw this once before. remember when charlie crist, the former governor of florida, physically kind of embraced president obama who came down to the state in the depths of the economic downturn because he was helping florida with stimulus funds. that as much as anything was his undoing. that's why marco rubio is in the senate because charlie crist embraced president obama and wasn't pure enough for the purist who basically control the republican nominating process.

so before people get too carried away with governor christie now and, again, i think definitely riding a good wave now, let's kind of, "a," see what he stands for re-election and, "b," see how tolerant republican primary voters are to somebody they think in part was responsible for the president's re-election. >> richard, for the dems, one word, hillary. will she run? >> gosh, you know, last year the people closest to her, and i was very much an advocate, a surrogate for her in '08. people last year said, no way, no how. this year they're saying never say never. i don't think anybody knows including herself but i know there are a lot of people pulling for her. what can i say? >> chip, the whole situation in the middle east, did that show how effective hillary clinton can be? >> yeah, you have to give her good marks for how she handled it. she will go out with very high marks for a the lot of different reasons, riding a lot of public

opinion polls very highly. but, as we see, there's a difference in talking about running for president and running for president. >> very true. steve, speaking of 2016, what about david petraeus? "the new york times" has a piece talking about his future and it wasn't all that long ago he was talked about as a presidential candidate. let's face it, presidential candidates have survived similar situati situations he's facing. >> i think presidents have survived that situation. i'm not sure aspiring four steps removed potential candidates have survived it. general petraeus has a future but i think it's more like hi in writing his own book. i can't see him winning the nomination. right now just can't see him winning. >> chip saltsman phone it in, thank you, all three of you. good to see you. coming up, a horrifying pileup in texas sends dozens to the hospital.

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eastbound lanes of interstate 10 in southeast texas reopened this morning after a horrible 150-car pileup. two people were killed and 62 hospitaliz hospitalized. officials in beaumont said it happened in extremely foggy conditions thursday morning. and the major shake-up at oil giant bp. the company reportedly planning to announce a reorganization of its oil and gas operations. lamar mckay is reportedly set to head a new exploration and production unit, the second significant restructuring since the 2010 gulf spill. a 4-year-old sky named best in show out of 1,500 dogs in this year's national dog show. sky's handler has won three of the last four years. nice. up next, that other shopping holiday.

why small business owners hope tomorrow will be their day. and labor pains at walmart, why workers are planning to strike on the busiest shopping day of the year. [ male announcer ] this december, remember --

you can stay in and share something... ♪

♪ ...or you can get out there with your friends and actually share something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection. the black friday frenzy in full force. this is macy's flagship store in new york. this is the scene at a toys 'r' us in connecticut where sales items are flying off those shelves. the chain is one of several stores that opened their doors thursday night. here is how it looks on the west coast. some die hard shoppers there in southern california. they came prepared with tents as they waited for stores to open. so the malls may be packed but not everyone is in favor of stores opening up earlier and earlier. hundreds of walmart workers plan

to protest outside their stores today angry over low wages, benefits, and alleged retaliation against workers who try to organize. and the situation was made worse by walmart opening up on thanksgiving day. monday walmart tweeted, don't believe everything you read in the union press releases. we don't think their black friday activity will have an impact on customers. let's bring in william fletcher, a walmart employee. with a welcome to you, why are you protesting? >> i'm protesting because of the retaliation at our stores. many associates when we try to speak out are either fired or pulled into an office having to speak to multiple manages for at times hours on end. they are scare tactics. they try to put fear into people. and i'm protesting who hopefully make that stop. >> here is what one exec it tetch said on the "today" show. let's play that. >> we are really confident about a great shopping experience for our customers. we'll have a million walmart

associates serving our customer. what you are seeing is a small group of associates and a select number of stores. >> so there's no ramifications if somebody protests? >> we'll treat each case individually, savannah. >> what's your response to that? >> well, there's not a whole lot of associates protesting in comparison to the number that work for the company. however, for each associate that is protesting, there are 14 or 15 that support us but are too afraid to speak out. an important thing to remember is walmart for the past 50 years has been drilling in this fear of association, fear of unions, fear of standing up. so it's no surprise they would be afraid to speak out. >> do you think this will have any impact on people shopping at walmart today? you heard him say there would be a million people helping to serve the customers. >> there is going to be an impact.

i know there's going to be a number of customers who said they will not shop there. whether or not that hits walmart, i don't know. the point isn't so much to hurt walmart as it is to get them to listen to us and to appreciate the work we do and to treat us better and stop retaliation. >> walmart is saying when you look at the numbers of people protesting it's just a small group of the employees, and they have a lot of help from our walmart, the union backed group, what do you say to that? >> well, our walmart actually is a group of associates. so all the associates that are striking, a large number of associates that are striking are members of our walmart. i, for one, am a member of our walmart. we only receive help from the union because we ask for it. it is not union backed. and the associates are speaking out again, are speaking out for 14 or 15 associates for each one you see. multiply that number and you have quite a bit of voice coming out even if there's not a lot of

people. >> william, are you worried about your job now? >> not even a little bit. i have the right to strike. every employee does in this country walmart likes to tell us we don't. that we don't have any rights really at all. the fact of the matter is you do. i am certain that i'm going to go back to my job my next working day and i will not have any problems coming back in and if i am met with problems i will not have that big of an issue because i am really protected so i will go through the proper paths to get that corrected. >> okay, a clearly confident walmart employee. thank you for sharing with us. thank you very much. the black friday frenzy is on. there are more online deals to lure customers on cyber monday. retail analyst who is author of the new book "black market billions." hello. >> hello, alex. >> here we are on a friday. black friday start. what kind of a start is it off

to? >> i was at a walmart last night. i was at a walmart until about 2:00 in the morning last night and it was an ordered chaos. there were a lot of shoppers there. people were buying everything from electronics to apparel to toys and it was really packed. right now they are expecting the key take away number is $586.pi 1 billion. that's what they're expecting that shopping number to be, how much people will be spending over the holidays, and it's a 33-day holiday period. >> extravaganza. >> thanksgiving is so early. they're going to try to take advantage of that. >> how about cyber monday and all the deals. are the sales expected to be big this year online? >> they are expected to be big because right now there's a price war going on between these online retailers. the biggest one amazon, and what they are trying to do is undercut the brick and mortar stores like walmart and target to get the best deal out it

there. now the national retail federation, there's an organization called shop.org. they expect retail online sales at 12%. it's lower than last year but that basically equates to about $68.4 billion. >> anything to make it easier instead of going to each individual place online? are there app that is will do all the searching for you. >> it's an app extravaganza. you are doing yourself a diss disservice shopping without an app. i did some research. shop kick, for example, is like a black book of different types of deals. you can get redeemable points. there's another one called red laser owned by ebay, that you can get deals through other retail and retailmenot. it updates every five minutes. >> i'm sitting here writing all these down. if you want to be an informed

shopper, that's where it's going. >> hitha is my friend. you'll just hook me up. thank you. all good. many thank yous. so now you know about black friday and cyber monday, what about small business saturday? that is a program organized by american express. it started a couple years ago in 2010. designed to support local businesses across the country. last year alone, more than 100 million people turned out for it. and the hope is that a new record will be set tomorrow. joining us now is j.j. ramberg, host of msnbc's "your business." hi, good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> so let's talk about why this small business saturday is so important and what really got it started? >> you talked about black friday where you get the big deals and cyber monday. small business saturday you will find great deals at small businesses. but it's about af attitude and supporting things that are important to you.

you shop local, independent merchants. you think of your community and what these stores mean to your community whether it is the local boutique or the coffee shop, think about how much they add to your life. >> in my community all sorts of fliers and e-mails. there's a whole host of businesses that are sponsors of small business saturday. >> a lot of these big businesses survive because of the work they do with snaul business so it's very meaningful to them as well. >> so what about participation overall? is it just about people? go to your local store, to your local bookstore, your small pharmacy, little designer store. is that it? just get out there and shop locally? >> get out there and shop. your business means a lot to these small businesses especially as we're still going through this economic recovery.

it could be the difference between survival and not. you and other people in your neighborhood and your friends going to the small business and supporting them during the holiday season. >> yeah. can these small businesses also take advantage of online -- i mean, does it work the same way? are they wanting to get you foot traffic into your store? does it make any difference that way? >> no, it doesn't. support the small business wherever it exists online or in the store. small businesses can go to shopsmall.com to get some resources. to still promote today for tomorrow and for people out there they can just go and support small businesses. >> do you get a sense small businesses are rebounding? we had a lot of stores had to shut down in the wake of the recession and some have yet to reopen. >> and that happened all over the country, alex, not just in your community. it's been a tough few years. optimism is definitely higher than a few years ago. this season means a lot for

retailers and so this season we'll talk about what it's looking like going forward. but people are definitely more optimistic now. >> that's good to hear. j.j. ramberg, host of msnbc's "your business." thank you. safe travels when you come back home to new york. so what do you hope to get for the holidays? tweet me @alexwitt. coming up, will the scandal surrounding the voice of elmo stop toy sales this season? and a tough holiday season ahead for hurricane sandy victims. we'll talk with bill pascrell about that next where the recovery efforts stand right now. into their work,

their name on the door, and their heart into their community. small business saturday is a day to show our support. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small.

it's been 25 days since hurricane sandy made landfall devastating parts of new jersey. recovery efforts are under way as families try to rebuild their

lives. joining me now is congressman bill pascrell of new jersey. welcome to you, sir. thank you for joining us. i hope you had a good thanksgiving. >> happy holiday to you. >> thank you so much. let's talk about sandy and the recovery. how is it going? >> moving along slowly. most people have had their power returned and, of course, if you don't have a house, it doesn't matter whether you have power in the neighborhood. a lot of folks are out there working in a voluntary capacity. and i have to tell you, alex, the local county oems, office of emergency management, they have done a spectacular job in north jersey and i think i really salute them. they seldom get the credit due. the utilities did the best they possibly could have. i know public service, electric and gas is up to snuff. they had almost 400 trucks from out of state. that helped us get power restored. if your power is out, it's never quick enough, as you well know. >> sure. >> and i think by late this afternoon or early monday, alex, we will have an estimated damage

cost in new jersey which will help us then put a plan before the federal government, so we can start to get some money flowing into the state of new jersey. >> what do you think about fema's performance speaking of the it federal government, during the crisis in your state? >> better prepared than ever before, and i think they were on the ground working. i saw them working. the president, the vice president was here. i think the federal response has been excellent, and i think you're already seeing money into the pipeline. fema has money up to probably january and february. then the same old battle again, how much you increase the budget for fema. these are emergencies. if we can help one part of the nation, we can certainly help any other part of the nation. this is what fema is for. >> absolutely. there is one name that will be no surprise to you, sir, that's come up a lot lately in the recovery efforts, and that is

chris christie. how do you think governor christie is handling the recovery efforts? and i want to offer a "washington post" quote which cites one romney fund-raiser anonymously saying a lot of people feel like christie hurt, that we definitely lost four or five points between the storm and chris christie giving obama a chance to be bigger than life. i know we're talking politics, but what do you think of that criticism? >> i give christie an "a." i'm a democrat and he's a republican. i think he's done an outstanding job in concert with the president of the united states. number two, i don't think it meant more than maybe half a point. i mean they're looking for reasons. man, when you're looking for reasons 25 days, 22 days after the election, you're in big trouble. so you'd better take a look at where you're standing at this particular time. he's done a great job since the storm, and he's done a great job since the -- and that is chris

christie, and getting the delegation together, democrats and republicans, so that we're all on the same page. there are some people within the delegation who don't believe we have the money to spend on these emergencies. >> yeah. >> and i can't repeat what i usually tell those people. >> okay. >> but the point of the matter is this is an emergency. we have people who are out of their homes, will be out of their homes 12 to 18 months, some of them. when you see these folks particularly during the holidays and the average american, the average neighbor is reaching out without the government, but you certainly need government help in trying to get these mun municipalities back. the police department and federal trailers. this happens day in and day out, alex. i'm proud of what our agencies have done and what our people have done. >> may i ask you quickly talking about being on the same page, i don't think that will apply here. with the fiscal cliff, do you think there's a way to reach an agreement on the fiscal cliff?

are you willing to do comprehensive entitlement reforms in exchange for an increase tax rate? >> i think that's an excellent question. let's make one thing clear. the entitlements have little to do with the day-to-day operation of the budget. they have their own separate budgets. they're paid for in a separate manner, through payroll taxes. so anybody that wants to do that is really holding the issue hostage. the other side is good at doing that. republicans have been very good at holding us hostage. we said to them at least pass the middle chas tax cuts and let's continue those and then we'll debate the other stuff. there is no compromising these ideologues. i want compromise. people want them to come together. if you hold the other issue or the other side hostage, it's not going to get done. i'm a little less optimistic than i was last week when i hear from staff and the discussions

that are going on behind the scenes. i'm less optimistic about it. but i'm in there fighting for resolution. if we kick the can down the road, alex, this is the worst thing that we can do. it only builds up anxiety in the markets. >> i do get a sense people want resolution to all of this. bill pascrell of new jersey. coming up top of the hour, we'll take you back live to israel and gaza with the latest on the developingtory there, on efforts to maintain a ceasefire. and up next, will "sesame street" brand following elmo's creator. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios with his wife, danielle, almost every weekend. derrell hasn't been able to visit his mom back east in a long time. [ shirley ] things are sometimes a little tight around the house. i wasn't able to go to the wedding.

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there are new concerns this morning in the midst of the scandal that brought down the man behind elmo, kevin clash was the voice of elmo for more than 20 years but resigned from "sesame street" amid accusations of sexual relationships with teen boys. now some experts are suggesting that the once pristine "sesame street" brand may suffer backlash by its most lucrative

consumers, parents. joining me now is the ceo and an expert on consumer marketing and business strategy, welcome. look, let's talk about the company that produces "sesame street." saw losses of $10 million last year. bottom line, can they afford a scandal like this? >> no company can afford a scandal. the company and elmo himself will survive the scandal simply because it is kids that are driving the market. it's kids that have the emotional connection. and i think "sesame street" has done all the right things through this as well. >> i'm told that elmo makes up for about 75% of the brand sales for this company. if that takes a hit, then what? >> elmo is the big cahuna of "sesame street," that's true. "sesame street" are good corporate citizens and it's the kids that drive the christmas

season. if kids want elmo, what are the parents going to say? >> do you think there are parents out there, very many of them, during the holiday shopping season that don't want to provide for their kid when they're saying, i want the tickle me elmo? substitute for cookie monster? >> parents can make the emotional separation between elmo and the person behind elmo. kids don't. kids think elmo is the individual and that's why the media is so fascinated with this story. it has the question of where does the person behind the puppet end and begin. >> that's a good point. kevin clash has been with elmo since the very beginning. he has been the only elmo, psychologically speaking, look at what this does just to him personally after all these years. >> yes, there's a lot of drama and psychodrama. he has been the voice for a long time just like people know this woman, carol, i think her name is, the voice of big bird for a long time. i think it's an inside baseball i issue. >> but as a marketing expert, do you think kevin clash had any

choice but to resign? >> no, he had no choice. he should have done it a day or two earlier but guilty or innocent, that will be decided. but in such a sensitive area like this he did the right thing and "sesame street" did the right thing, i think. >> happy holiday to you. to the mideast for an update on the tenuous situation there. you'll hear from a former plo negotiator on the future of palestinians in the region. but first, some live pictures from tahrir square in cairo. protesting against morsi. these smartphones come with a bonus $100 walmart gift card?

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